Accidental Purpose
by Luna Silvereyes
Summary: Everything started with a story and a life. But whatever happened, these stories were abruptly ended, these lives ripped to pieces. Why were these lives chosen and not others? What made them so significant? And why did they end so tragically?
1. One

Accidental Purpose

Luna Silvereyes

A/N: My first Haibane Renmei story. I had another one, but I can't remember what happened to it. So I'll just have to rewrite it. I won't say exactly which characters are what, so you'll just have to read and see.

One

The door closed with a slight click. The rain came pouring down in sheets, drenching the frail body as it made its way through the trash-laden, dreary streets. It was so late at night. She was so tired, and longed to curl up in her bed and bury herself into her blanket, die to the world and never wake up again. Perhaps it was for the best. Perhaps no one would care. After all, sleep was her greatest companion in times of stress like she was undergoing right this minute. Besides, even in the gloomy mist caused by the warm rain, she knew where she was going.

She clutched her coat closer to her and glanced back at the place she'd come from. Worn, decrepit and crumbling, the old house stood as a mark for her wretched, lonely life.

Mother dead.

Father unknown.

Nobody but the aging old woman who spent every day wrapped in afghans by the old wooden stove. It had always been her job to keep that stove lit and burning for the old woman. She knew so many things, except for one vital necessity.

Love.  
All her life, it had been everything and yet, nothing to her. Deprived for so many years. One year of love hadn't been enough when they decided to ransack her home and take away everything, including the person she loved the most.

She felt warm tears slide from her eyes and mingle with the rain. It would be useless to wipe them away, so she ignored them.

What would the old woman do? Would she even notice?

She doubted it. She never noticed before. Why would she now?

As far as she knew, no one else would notice, either.

If only things were different. She had so much to give, and no one to give it to. No one saw her or remembered her. No one would care.

She'd tried everything. But fate hadn't been on her side.

At least, not until now.

She started to cry as she trudged along the empty street, soaking her through and through. Her shoes filled with water and her hair hung over her face, obscuring her vision. She longed to return, but it was too late even as she'd left the house. To go back now would be a mistake. But what if she was doing was also a mistake? What then?

She cried even harder at the thought of the old woman. She wished so much that she would wake up from her slumber before the stove and notice that she was gone. If that were the case, she'd come after her for certain and stop her from her mission; something she wanted so dearly. But the chances of that happening were very slim.

Her sobs were so vicious that they threatened to double her over right in the street. She struggled to pull herself together as she reached the point.

She looked up.

Through the gloom, she saw it. It was the passageway between her district and the next. She focused her eyes on one specific point along the railing and never took them away from it. Her grip on her coat lessened and it gradually slipped from her shoulders, bearing her pale skin to the merciless winds and rain.

She was scared.

No, she was terrified. She didn't want to do this, but she felt as though she were being pulled to that spot on the rail.

She paused when she thought she heard something behind her. But she shook it off, swallowing her pounding heart back into her chest. She placed a single hand on the railing and looked over. The mist kept her from seeing what lay below. She had no idea whether there was water or rocks. In any case, it didn't matter.

Her sobs ceased as her heart hammered in her chest and she felt like she was going to be sick. She tightened her grip on the slippery rail and flexed her arm, holding her body steady as she grasped the rail with her other hand. Keeping a firm hold, she swung her leg up over the railing until she was straddling it, facing back the way she came. As she brought her other leg over, twisting her arms backward, still holding onto the rail, she glanced back one more time at the road she'd left. She hesitated. She was sure she saw a fleck of white along the pavement. Her eyes narrowed in confusion and then she shrugged it off as nothing. She faced out into the horizon, steeling herself. This was the big moment. She couldn't turn back once she let go of the railing.

"Stop!"

She turned and her grip slipped for just a millisecond. She saw something hurrying toward her along the street. Her eyes went wide when she saw the streaming white hair and the mud-soaked afghans.

It was the old woman.

She'd woken up and noticed that she'd gone. And the old woman was clearly struggling on the slippery street.

She turned back to the gloomy horizon, trying to block out the old woman's cries for her to stop and climb back to safety.

But even as her resolve strengthened, it weakened and fresh tears burst forth, a wave of grief and relief spreading through her as she realized that the old woman had cared enough to come after her in this horrible weather.

Smiling, she twisted around, reaching out to the old woman as she approached. The old woman gently took her hand as she turned her body around, preparing to climb back over. Pure joy and relief showed in the old woman's eyes as she beamed at her.

"Oh, thank heaven." She whispered.

But as she lifted her leg up to climb over the rail, her right foot slipped over the edge and she felt her body suddenly become weightless. She heard a scream from somewhere as the old woman's hand slipped from her grasp.

Another scream, this one closer. It took her a second to realize that it was hers.

She'd slipped and as she tumbled down, down, she saw the old woman's face contorted in horror and grief, her hair blowing in the wind as she reached far over as though to pull her back from her fall.

The old woman grew further and further away and the wind rushed past her ears at an alarming pace. Her heart pounded furiously as instinct told her what was coming.

"No." was all she said before she slammed into the water's surface, the icy liquid rushing into her lungs and the momentum breaking her body on impact.

Darkness surrounded her and then….

There was nothing.

In the distance, she was sure she heard a bird crowing somewhere close by.

A/N: In this story, I'll leave you to figure out the plot and twists in here. After all, mystery and unanswered questions are what Haibane Renmei is all about.


	2. Two

A/N: Here's the next chapter. I finally got a review! I hope you like this one and I hope it's believable. This one was hard.

Two

Her hobby and her passion excelled her age. She knew what she wanted to do and when she wanted to do it. But her parents refused to allow it.

"You're too young." Mother scolded.

"When you're older." Father admonished.

She didn't care. She wanted so badly to fly and she was going to, whether they liked it or not.

She could often be seen at the airfields, watching the commercial and private planes taking off and landing. All she would do was watch them all day long and into the night sometimes. She only left to eat, check in or sleep and that was only whenever the security guards chased her away after dark.

She loved the magnificent creations that could soar into the sky as though they weighed nothing. But she knew that she would never fly like that.

As she sat in her room at home, listening to her parents as they talked or argued, she would draw a sketchy version of herself, but with a small, added detail that she longed to make real.

A pair of bright, powerful wings grew from her back and held themselves high as she drew them. She would smile at her drawings each time she finished one and then tack it up on her wall to look at as she fell asleep to dream about them becoming real.

But each day, she woke up disappointed.  
And hurt.

For each day, she would wake up and her newest drawing would be torn down, ripped to pieces on the rug. She knew it was her mother to blame. Her mother greatly disapproved of her dreams of flying. She sometimes even forbade her go to the airfields. She claimed that airplanes were far too dangerous and had killed too many.

She would get out of bed, gently take the pieces of her shattered dream and lovingly store them away in a shoebox under her bed until she drew again. It never bothered her. They were just drawings and they could always be redone.

After breakfast, she ran outside and took the shortcut through the barley fields to the airfield. There, she took her usual seat atop the fence to watch the planes land and take off.

One day, she got an idea. Why not ask the staff at the station what it takes to learn to fly? What could it hurt?

Inside the port, there were people bustling all about, heading to their respective planes. This end of the port was the private end, so she selected a random man from the crowd and ran over to him.

"Excuse me." She said. He turned.

"Yes?" he replied.

"Hi. I was wondering if you'd teach me to fly?" she said. The man smiled and she scowled when she realized he was going to laugh at her childish dreams.

But she was surprised when he placed a hand on her head and sighed.

"I love people like you." He said. "Fearless from the start. Have you ever flown in a plane, before?"

She sighed unhappily. "No, sir. I've been on the boring old ground my entire life." She muttered.

At this, he laughed again.

"You're my kinda gal," he said in a real fatherly tone. She knew instantly that she'd picked the right man for the job.

"Thanks!" she exclaimed.

"But to get to your question, kiddo, you're too young to learn to fly by yourself. It's a lot of work."

Her eyes lowered to the floor in depression. "Thanks anyway, mister." She mumbled. She turned to walk away.

"Now wait a minute, missy." The man called after her. She looked back, a gleam of hope in her eyes. The man smiled.

"I never said you couldn't fly."

"What?"

"If it's all right with your folks, I'll gladly take you up in my plane sometime. How does that sound?"

She gasped in delight and spun in a circle. "Really?! You mean it?" she exclaimed.

"Sure. You remind me of my daughter and I couldn't resist the sad little look you just gave me. My plane's being repaired right now. An engine blew out last week. But when it's finished, I'll be honored to give you your very first airborne experience. I will need your parents' permission, though, seeing as you're a minor."

She hesitated here and then smiled. "Sure." She said. All the while, she was thinking of ways to bring it up to her parents.

"I can hardly wait!" she proclaimed.

"Glad to hear it." Her new friend said with a smile. "By the way, name's Minoru."

"Hi! My name is…."

//ooo//

That night, she lay on her bed, her hands beneath her head and grinned from ear to ear. She was so excited, her toes were curling in her socks like they always did when her adrenaline was rushing. She still hadn't told her parents, but surely they wouldn't mind as long as an experienced flyer was behind the wheel. And Mitchell certainly seemed competent enough.

She sat up and frowned. In any event, she didn't want to take chances. As much as she hated to do this, she'd have to lie.

It was her only choice if she was going to finally leave the ground behind.

//ooo//

The following week, she remembered that this was the day Mitchell's plane was to be ready. Her parents had no idea and if everything went according to plan, they'd never have to know.

She ate breakfast in silence, contemplating her upcoming adventure. Her mother noticed.

"Dear, what's the matter?" she asked.

"Huh? Oh, nothing." She replied. She shoved her toast into her mouth and swallowed painfully. She took a quick swig of milk and grabbed her bag.

"I'm going out!" she yelled.

"Be careful and stay away from the airfield!" her mother yelled back. She rolled her eyes and hurried out the door, running as fast as her legs could carry her to the airfield where Minoru was waiting.

She beamed when she saw him standing on the runway next to his airplane, another little girl standing beside him. She slowed to a walk, thinking that Minoru had decided to take someone else in her place. He was talking to a runway official. He turned and waved to her, telling her to come over. She smiled again when she realized she was being foolish. That girl must be his daughter and she was just coming along for the ride.

She finally reached them and gasped for breath, still grinning.

"I'm here!" she said.

"About time. Did you get the okay?" he asked pleasantly.

"I sure did!" she lied. "When are we going? I can't wait!"

"You'll just have to for a few minutes." Minoru chuckled. "They're filling the tank up and doing a final inspection, now. In the meantime, this is my daughter, Nanami."

The little girl smiled at her and waved.

"Daddy told me about you." She said. "I hope you have fun on the plane ride."

She cocked her head in confusion at Nanami. "What? You mean you're not coming?"

Nanami shook her head breezily.

"No, no. I get motion sickness real easy. I have a hard time riding in cars, of all things." She giggled. "Take good care of daddy for me." She said. With that, she skipped off toward a woman waiting at the chain gate. Minoru waved at them and turned to her.

"They're just about ready. Are you all set?" he asked.

"You bet!"

Minoru opened the plane door for her. "Ladies first." He said politely.

She jumped inside and secured the seatbelt as Minoru went around and climbed in the other side. He handed her a pair of headphones.

"Put these on." He said. "The engine can get pretty loud."

She eagerly fastened them on her head and bounced excitedly on her seat.

Minoru checked with the tower and then started the plane up. As predicted, she engines gave a tremendous roar as the plane was given permission to take off. She pressed her face to the silicon window and watched as they sped down the runway.

She turned to look at Minoru and noticed that he had something on his back.

"What's that?" she asked.

"A parachute." He replied. "If in the event we have to abandon the plane, it'll get us down safely. You're too small to have one of your own, so I'll just keep a sharp eye on you just in case." He said with a wink. She smiled and turned back to the window.

Her heart hammered as the plane suddenly lifted off the ground, the immense force making it hard for her to stay at the window.

"Wow!" she exclaimed as the earth turned into a patchwork quilt of browns, greens, yellows and reds. "It's amazing!"

The entire plane ride was pure exhilaration to her as she took in the joys of being in the air.

The sound of the engines grew from a clamor to a lulling vibration that echoed up from within the bowels of the plane and she felt herself growing sleepy.

She was about drift off from pure excitement when Minoru suddenly cursed loudly and she sprang awake as the plane jolted far to the left. There was a loud booming sound, like thunder and she felt her stomach twitch as the plane started to drop.

"What happened?" she exclaimed. Minoru didn't answer. He snatched up the radio and turned it on.

"Stargazer to ground control, do you read me? This is Minoru Aizawa, do you read?"

There was nothing but garbled nonsense spouting from the radio and Minoru tried again with the same results. His face grim, he turned to her.

Listen, I'm starting to believe that the repairmen missed something in our engines." He said gravely.

"What's that mean?" she asked, the excitement turning into fear. She was suddenly starting to think that maybe the earth wasn't so bad.

"It means, we're losing altitude and—uh oh."

He twisted back and looked out the window.

"Oh shit!" he exclaimed. "Our left engine's on fire!"

He snatched up the radio again and yelled into it; "This is Minoru Aizawa! Our left engine has blown out! Do you read?"

_"We read you now, Minoru. Can you make an emergency landing? Over." _

"I'm too high up. The flames are spreading and if they reach the fuel tank, it's all over."

_"You'll have to abandon the aircraft. If you can't make an emergency landing, there's nothing we can do, here. Over."_

She watched fearfully as Minoru lost no time in unbuckling his seatbelt and turning to her.

"Hurry. We only have a few minutes before the flames reach the fuel tank. We're going to have to jump for it."

"What? But—"

"No time!" he yelled. He reached over, scooped her up and opened the door on his side.

"Ready?" he asked her as the wind rushed past them ferociously.

"No!" she answered.

"Geronimo!" Minoru yelled, pushing out of the cockpit and tumbling toward the earth. He tightened his grip around the terrified girl as he reached for the cord on his parachute.

"Be ready for this!" he said. "Stiffen your neck!"

"Why?" she started to ask. Then, as he reached for the cord, everything seemed to happen in slow motion. The parachute unfurled from the backpack and soared high above them.

Then, with a snap, they were yanked several dozen feet up and her head flew back, as she was unprepared.

As the parachute started the long descent toward the ground, Minoru glanced down at his young friend.

"That was exciting, wasn't it? Not bad for your first plane ride."

She didn't answer.

"Hey," he said again. "You awake?"

No answer. He frowned curiously and assumed she must have fainted. He ignored it and waited until the parachute dropped them down onto the ground and fell in a shapeless heap all around them.

He took of the bag and set her down on the ground. He shook her gently.

"Hey, come on, kid, wake up." He said.

She didn't move. Now that they were on the ground, he noticed that her neck lay at a rather odd angle.

His heart started to race suddenly and he immediately checked her wrist for a pulse. There was none. He gently lifted her up again and her neck fell at a grotesque angle.

"Oh no." he muttered in horror.

A/N: Okay, so if any of you know which Haibane this is, I'm pretty sure I got her dream down as best as I could. Please don't flame too hard.


	3. Three

A/N: My third Haibane. I hope this chapter was correct. In any case, I hope you readers enjoy it.

Three

The room was filled with utter silence. The still figure in the hospital bed stared at the ceiling, trying to imagine what her friends at school might be doing. It was arts and crafts week at the elementary school and being more of a writer than an artist, she was sort of glad she wasn't there for it. But she missed her friends more than anything. It was so boring being cooped up like this.

Her parents tried to cheer her up by bringing her books to read and various little time-killers to keep her busy. But after awhile, everything became boring.

She truly found comfort in staring out the window for endless hours, ignoring whatever or whoever came into the room as she lost herself in her reveries.

Each morning, she ate breakfast in silence as her mother watched worriedly. Her mother knew that she wasn't getting any better. But she wasn't getting any worse, either, so that was a good thing at least.

"Sweetie," she said one day. "I spoke with the doctor. How'd you like to walk around outside?"

She could only look up blankly. Her predicament had made her pretty much oblivious to everything. Even her mother.

Her mother had to repeat herself.

She agreed.

She was placed in a wheelchair with a blanket wrapped around her to keep her warm. Winter was fast approaching and her body had a difficult time generating heat due to her condition.

Her mother pushed her wheelchair around the grounds, chatting brightly to her daughter. But she didn't pay attention. She heard maybe two or three words her mother said, now and then and replied simply, "Hm."

Her mother sighed. She was so dreary and depressed these days. She was never the type of girl to overreact and get hyper and excited like most children. But her condition didn't help either. With the constant failures in the latest treatments, her chances of surviving were fading rapidly.

"Sweetheart," her mother said, voice wavering, "I know you're depressed and not in the mood, but I thought it'd be nice if we went out for some ice cream, together. A real girls' day out, you know?"

"Hm." She said. "I…suppose so."

Her mother felt like crying in despair.

In the end, they didn't go for ice cream. She suddenly felt dizzy and passed out in the wheelchair. She woke up again in the hospital, back in her bed and hooked up to the medicine that was supposed to be getting her body back on track. So far, it had yet to show any promise.

Her disease had been getting worse. It had infiltrated her bone marrow and making her even more resistant to the therapies.

"Mama," she said to her mother later the same day, "I'm going to die, aren't I?"

Her mother shook her head fiercely.

"No! You're not going to die! You're going to get over this! You hear me?"

She shook her head slowly against the pillow, staring at the ceiling.

"But you heard what the doctors said, mama. It's getting worse. I'm getting weaker by the day and it's harder for me to stay awake."

Her mother took her hand in her own.

"I'm not letting you go without a fight." She choked out. "Because…you're all I've got left so you have to hang in there!"

She just closed her eyes to prevent the tears from escaping.

//ooo//

The next night, she awoke from that same dream about what had happened two years ago when she fell for the first time. It hadn't seemed to be all that significant, but the bruise she ended up with stayed with her for weeks on end. That had been the turning point.

She looked to the right and saw her mother's shadow outside the door, talking in hushed tones with the doctor. Struggling, she sat up painfully and listened.

_"Is there any hope? There has to be, please." _

_"Listen, ma'am, we're doing everything we can. Even our strongest has failed, now. There are just too many of them to kill at this point. They're beginning to adhere to some of her major organs. The way I see it, they'll start to shut down within a few weeks, or months." _

_"No! There must be something!" _

_"There just isn't. Even with all of our technology at the ready, the prognosis is grim at best. I'm sorry. Now, I suggest you go home and get some rest." _

While her mother continued to sob, she fell back on the pillow, rehearing the doctors words endlessly through her mind, repeating the same cycle into an abysmal wave.

"So there's no hope for me." She whispered to herself. She closed her eyes and sighed.

//ooo//

As the days progressed, she got weaker and weaker. She slept more often during the day than she did at night. Internal fear had started giving her nightmares and she often woke up drenched in a cold sweat. She'd then spent the rest of the night with her head on her mother's lap as she soothed her.

"Why me?" she'd said a few days after she overheard what the doctor had told her mother. "What did I do? Why can't I just live a normal life? I don't want to die."

"Honey, listen," her mother said. "You aren't going to die. The doctor said you were going to be fine."

Here, she glowered at her mother.

"Stop lying to me, mama." She said harshly. Her mother recoiled as though she'd been burned.

"Wha…what?"

"Stop lying just to make me feel better. I heard you talking to the doctor the other night. He said that I'm getting worse every day and there's nothing he can do to stop it."

"But…but sweetie—"

"I don't want to die!" she yelled suddenly, pounding the bed with her fists as tears streamed down her face, "I don't want to die! I don't want to die! I don't want to die!"

She collapsed onto her side, sobbing hysterically while her mother just sat quietly, unable to say anything anymore. Finally, while her daughter calmed down, she got to her feet and silently left the room, turning her back on her daughter after all of this.

She never came back to that hospital room.

//ooo//

Over the next two weeks, she got weaker and weaker to the point where an IV stood between her and starving to death. Her mother stopped coming. She knew that it was for the best. Her mother couldn't take the gut-wrenching pain of watching her only child waste away from this accursed illness.

Her only source of entertainment was staring out the window at the world she'd never get to experience. She liked to let her imagination wander freely now, exploring the famous Himalayas, eating delicious food from other countries that she couldn't dream of having now, wearing beautiful foreign clothing and best of all, being with her entire family for once. Being healthy and out of the hospital, hanging out with her friends at the shopping district and living life as she hadn't been able to for five years.

But as the nurse came in to check on her, she realized that all she wanted right then was to go to sleep and never have to wake up to this suffering again.

"How are you, dear?" the nurse asked for a third time. She looked over.

"Fine." She replied in a raspy voice.

"Are you feeling all right?"

What a ridiculous question. She turned away, not bothering to answer. The nurse cleared her throat and left the room, probably to fetch the doctor.

Evening was beginning to fall and she felt very tired. She wondered what her mother was doing right now. It didn't really matter. Her mother hadn't visited in weeks. She wasn't going to come now.

Her weary, heavy eyes glanced at the window at the rising moon and setting sun. It was a quarter moon, tonight. She smiled faintly.

"It's pretty." She said. She sighed and closed her eyes, breathing deeply and then exhaling deeply. She drifted off to sleep.

She would never wake up, again.

A/N: Well, it should be pretty clear who this one was. ^_^ But I placed a few hints in here about what she died from. If any of you can get it, you're pretty darned smart.


End file.
